Mine Again
by undercover-lobsterr
Summary: Aria's old friend comes back into town spontaneously. Aria made a promise to help Santana get through any problems that she ever has and she will stand by that until death do them part
1. Chapter 1

Aria has been running around her house like a headless chicken for the past three hours, unable to sit down and unable to focus on even the smallest of tasks. She has been battling the nervous butterflies in her stomach ever since she received the text last night. She barely slept, kept in an everlasting state of anxiousness and excitement.

Aria hasn't seen her friend in over two and a half years and to find out that she is coming into town to see her makes her want to jump for joy in the middle of her living room. The message itself was very vague but still lit a fire in her heart, she has really missed her childhood friend.

Little Snixx, I'm coming back into town tomorrow so clear your schedule. I've been missing you like crazy! XOXO - San

Her heart is still fluttering from her old nickname. Santana had started calling her Little Snixx after she had seen her lose her temper for the first time and it had reminded her of a cuter version of her own alter ego. What she couldn't get her head around was why now? What is making Santana come back into town now after all this time they have spent apart? Surely she would have simply skyped her if she was missing her that much. Aria quickly pushes the thoughts away, after all she is getting to see her childhood best friend again after all these years.

Her feet are automatic at this point, six steps, turn, six steps, turn. The stop the second a faint knock is heard against the wood of the door and she races towards the door with a huge grin painting her face. She flings it open and her smile immediately drops. "Oh, it's you."

"Nice to see you to Aria." Alison laughs as she steps inside followed by the three other girls.

"What are you guys doing here? Didn't you get my text? I told you that I can't do today." Aria asked confusedly as she closes the door and takes a seat on the arm of the chair as her friends scatter themselves around the room, finding seats.

"We got your message but not your explanation. We've been talking about today's shopping trip for the last two weeks so you better have a good excuse Missy." Spencer chastises gently causing Aria to groan as she lets herself fall onto Hanna's lap on the chair.

"My friend is coming into town and I only got her message last night so I didn't have time to see how long for. I haven't seen her in over two years so I wanted to see her." Aria explains to her friends firmly to show that this is her priority, not their pre-planned shopping trip.

"Fair enough but get your fat ass off of me." Hanna jokes making Aria pout slightly.

"What friend is this and why don't we know her?" Emily questions.

"Her name is Santana and she moved to Ohio like six months after we became friends. "

"Yes, and the question remains, why don't we know her? Our friendship with you overlapped your friendship with her so why didn't you ever tell us?" Spencer asks softly.

Aria glances over to Alison guiltily and they make eye-contact briefly before Alison sighs and looks away. "That's my fault actually." Ali admits. "I blackmailed Aria to stay away from her because I thought her friend was a geek." The other girls look between the two girls sadly. "However it appears that she managed to ignore me for those few months and keep doing it anyway without me knowing anything." She chuckled forlornly.

"Honestly, I don'y know why you never questioned why I never had any Tuesday nights free so no hard feelings." Aria smiles.

Emily opens her mouth to say something but is cut off by a swift knock at the door and a beautiful Latino woman entering.

"Santana Lopez! What the hell happened to you? You got hot!" Aria exclaims as she stands up off of Hanna for the first time and makes her way over to Santana.

"Says you Little Snixx, look at you!" They embrace each other in a giant hug that lasts for several minutes while Aria's friends sit in silence, unknowing of where to look.

When the pain break way Aria looks toward her friends for a second. "San, these are my friends, Spencer, Hanna, Emily and that there is Alison." Aria points at each girl as she introduces them. "Guys, this is Santana."

They all exchange glances, unknowing of what to say until Alison speaks up. "Santana, before anyone says anything I would like to personally apologise for what I did to you and Aria when we were younger." This causes Aria to smile at Alison discreetly.

"Apology accepted although me and Ari will still refer to you as the 'bitchy one' forever." Santana laughs as Alison looks over to the short brunette with an eyebrow raised. "And if you're the bitchy one then the other blonde is the 'fashionista' and you are the 'sporty one.'" Santana looks at each of them, knowing that she is embarrassing Aria to no ends. " And that makes you the 'hot one' that Aria wants to bone."

"Santana!" Aria blushes furiously.

"You know Spencer, I used to get so jealous that she wanted to bone you but I know she would bone me at any time I wanted anyway so why not let her get a bit more on the side? It's kind of wanky if you think about it."

The girls all laugh as Aria's face turns bright red and she buries her head in her hands.

"Can you girls go now you know I'm not coming? go enjoy your shopping trip so I can stop being humiliated." Aria asks them but they all know that they don't actually have a choice because Aria is kicking them out to spend time with her friend. They gather up their things and give the two girls a wave as each of them leave and Spencer gives Aria a swift spank to the ass and a wink on the way out causing her to blush again and the girls to laugh.

"Just me and you now Monty. What do you want to do?" Santana asks as she plops herself down on the couch, pulling the shorter girls down with her.

"It appears that you decided when you pulled me down here Sanny so tell me, what is new?"

"Well, I'm gay."

"I said new. I've known you were gay since we used to spend hours making out on the couch in your basement." Aria raises an eyebrow.

"What? And you never told me?" Santana looks appalled but quickly breaks out into a smile, unable to be mad at her friend.

"I sincerely apologise but to be fair, I thought that you would know." Aria throws her head back and laughs boisterously once she finishes speaking.

Santana quickly joins in laughing since Aria's emotions have always been infectious.

"What about you? Any more lady kisses since I've been gone?"

"No lady kisses for me. No lady could compare to you." The dynamic shifts to sad, a shocking difference from the laughter that was emitted just a few seconds ago. "However I have dated a guy. He was my teacher but we broke up a couple of months ago. It got too risky." Aria speaks nonchalantly as she tries to pick the happiness level back up.

"Teacher? I'm appalled but also very happy because those lips only belong to one lady." Santana points at herself causing Aria to smile and rest her head on the taller girl's shoulder, turning her head inwards to take in the smell of her childhood sweetheart.

Santana pulls Aria closer and rests her head atop of Aria's. " I missed you like crazy Ari."

"Me too."

They stay like that, just clinging on to one another, unwilling to let go in fear that the other girl will disappear at any given moment. After at least 30 minutes of silence Santana finally speaks up. "My mom sent those brownies you like, it kind of pisses me off because she refused to make them for anyone else. She says they are for her true daughter-in-law only." This causes Aria to smirk.

"i'm pretty sure that I missed your mom the most." Aria jokes causing Santana to gasp and push her away by her shoulder slightly. "Kidding, kidding." Aria holds her hands up in mock surrender.

They fall back into a loose embrace after that. "San?"

"Hmm?" Santana has closed her eyes, fully enjoying the feeling of being wrapped around Aria.

"Why did you come back so suddenly?"

"It's kind of depressing Ari."

"Come on San, it's just me. You know you can tell me anything, even after all this time."

A few seconds pass and Santana looks conflicted. "Alright, the reason I came to see you is..."


	2. Chapter 2

No-one's POV

"Alright, the reason I came to see you is...I just...really missed you. Yeah, I just couldn't get you out of my head. Aria breaks out into yet another grin.

"Really? And what is so depressing about that Lopez?" A mock glare is thrown at Santana taking her back to all the good times they had together when they were young, how their relationship has always been full of love, laughter and support. Santana refuses to ruin that now, she can't tell her the truth.

"What's wrong with that? Are you kidding? I'm too badass to be spending my time moping and staring at photos of your annoyingly lovable face."

"Oh, so you stare at pictures of my lovable face now?" Santana holds a hand up in a stop sign motion.

"Hold up now Lil' Snixx. I said, and I quote, 'annoyingly lovable' so don't get any ideas. I still can't stand you 90% of the time but I do kind of love you...sometimes." She makes air quotes as she restates the adjectives she used. "Now I wants to hear some more about this teacher guy you dated."

Aria rolls her eyes and takes one of Santana's hands in her own two to stop her fidgeting while recounting her car wreck of a relationship.

"Alright then, we'll change the subject but I just want you to know that I will be bringing this up again in the future." If we even even have a future. Santana can't help but think spitefully. "So you know how we went to Iceland for a year?" She waits for her to nod in confirmation before continuing although she knows that Santana knows because they made regular phone calls and texts to each other, they always have. "When i came back I went to some pub thing, I was grabbing something to eat since I was waiting for Mike to finish some kind of try-outs because I was his ride. I was bored out of my mind and some guy started talking to me, it was all innocent. We spoke about music and literature, cliche right?" Aria pauses and chuckles at her naivety and Santana watches glumly as she can tell how much she is kicking herself in this moment.

Santana's POV

I watch as Aria avoids all eye contact with me, I'm trying my best to send her a telepathic message for her to look at me but she either isn't receiving the message or she's ignoring me.

"Somehow, we ended up in the bathroom making out, I was that stupid, I didn't even know the guy besides his name. Ezra Fitz." I can see how much she is struggling with this story and how much this random guy has hurt her and I haven't even heard all of the story yet. I just want to rip his throat out for hurting her, she's my Pookie, no matter how long we've been apart she will always be my best friend and I don't let anyone hurt the people that I care about.

"It's okay Ari, you don't have to tell me if you don't wan to baby." |I reassure her, gripping her hands tighter and stilling her fingers that were playing with mine distractedly.

"It's alright San, I want you to know." She takes a deep breath and continues. "The next day we had a new English teacher and you'll never guess who it was. Good ol' Mr Fitz. We ended up getting into a relationship, it wasn't serious at first but when it started to I freaked. There was a lot to lose and I will always pick my family over some guy I met a few weeks before so I tried to break it off with him." There are tears in her eyes now and all I want to do is find a way to make them stop. Instead I simply shuffle closer to her and soothingly begin to rub my thumbs over the back of her hands. "He tried to get me to stay with him by threatening to make my friends flunk his class. I almost did it but then Spencer found out somehow and instead we had to make a deal with him, he leaves the grades and me alone and I won't report him to the dean for having relations with a student. I'm not even mad that we broke up, I just feel stupid because I thought he was a semi-decent human being. I guess we all don't have a psychic Mexican third eye like you."

I hate that he has made her feel this way, I'm going to kill him. "You didn't deserve to be treated that way and I'm sure I would have figured it out but you can't help but see the best in people, that's why we are such great friends, you saw the good in me even when nobody else could." I am rewarded with a small smile and she wipes away a tear that has found its way down her porcelain cheek. "Now, on a totally unrelated topic, where does this guy live and how easy is it to break into his place in the dead of night?"

Aria laughs a little forcibly but there is still an undertone of genuinity. "He's not worth the pain." I whisper into her ear as I wrap my arms around her shoulders.

"Whenever anyone says that it makes me believe it less but with you I can't help but believe it. Maybe it's because I know that you are incapable of lying to me." Aria admits and I know that she's right but it makes me worry. What if she find out about my secret, it would crush her. "You'd never lie to me though, right San?"

"Of course I wouldn't Pookie." Liar. Liar, Liar.

"This is getting depressing. Lunch at the brew?" I study her as she stands, she's still just as beautiful as I remember, even more so if that's possible. Maybe her chest is slightly more full, or her cheek bones are slightly more prominent. Or perhaps it's because she's just exactly what I remember her to be like. All love and compassion. I'm brought out of my thoughts by the gorgeous sound of Aria's giggle. "Are you just going to stare or are you going to answer my question?"

"What?.. Oh..Oh, yeah we can do that. You're paying right?" Way to go Santana, real smooth.

"Sure Sanny, I'll pay." She laughs at my expense. If it was anybody else calling me Sanny and laughing at me I would hit them with my harsh, harsh words or worse, my harsh, harsh fists but like always, she's the exception.

"You're annoying."

"Do you want me to pay or not bitch?"

"I love you." I plaster an overly sweet expression on my face and flutter my eyelashes while she shakes her head at me.

"That's what I thought."

Aria's POV

We decided to walk in the end, it's a nice day out and we could always use the extra time together to catch up.

"Where are you staying while you're here?" I ask as I swing our hand gently after insisting on holding hands, what can I say? I've missed her touch.

"Currently I'm staying in the fancy hotel of my rental car. Plush seating included." She states casually which makes me tug her hand and force her to stop walking.

"Are you serious? You can't sleep in a car. You'll have to stay with us." She looks at me and for a second I see something in her eyes, an emotion I haven't seen aimed at me in a long time. Not since she had left and it warms my heart.

"You're really cute but I can't just temporarily move in with you. You're cute when you worry though." She tries to turn and continue walking but I'm having none of it.

"San, I'm putting my foot down on this. I will pay for a hotel if you won't stay with us."

She sighs heavily. "I will pay for a motel room. I'm going cheap and cheerful but because you're forcing me, you have to stay with me." She smiles, knowing that she has won this one.

I stare her down for a few seconds before gritting my teeth. "Fine, you win." She does a little victory dance and it makes me giggle as much as I try and hold it in. "And I'm not cute by the way."

"You are but it's a good thing so don't worry." I'm about to respond when my stomach grumbles, reminding me of our current task. "Come on then, let's get you fed before Little Snixx attacks me." I huff but let her pull me along.

We walk in a comfortable silence the rest of the way, still clutching onto each other's hands tightly. I don't want this day to end. I have truly missed Santana too and had wanted to see her in many instances too, she just gave first and came back. She appears to be exactly the same as I remember but I can't shake the feeling that she is keeping something from me. We have always shared everything so I don't understand why she won't trust me with whatever it is but we have also spent a long time apart and she has always taken longer than the average human to open up. Maybe that's why I love her so much, she's not like anyone else that I know. She is purely Santana.

As we approach the brew she makes us quicken our pace as she gets more and more excited. "They still do those bacon turnover things right?" She asks before entering.

"How would I know?" I sigh at her and push her through the door playfully.

"You're being mean again." She complains which makes me laugh. I have to wait for Santana to go through the painstaking process of choosing what to get which in the end turns out to be one of the bacon pastries that she wanted originally. I get fries and a latte while she gets a black coffee, some things really never do change.

She drags me to the back corner where we have spent hours laughing and joking many a time. "San!" I exclaim as she piles more and more sugar in her drink.

"What?" She raises her eyebrows challengingly but quickly breaks into a grin.

"Lay off the sugar." I chuckle as she pouts at me, leading me to swipe my hand across her face to rid her of that torturous look.

"I know, I don't need it when you're here. You're sweet enough as it is Montgomery." I stare at her for a few moments before realising that she is being completely serious.

"And to think that people actually think that you're a badass. You're a total softie babe."

"Is it weird?" She asks me suddenly, confusing me.

"You being a secret softie?"

"No, us still calling each other babe. We've both done it several times today and I doubt that I've been back even two hours." I scour my memories and realise that we have. Should it be weird? It comes so naturally though.

"I don't think so. We have a past and it fits. Feelings don't just go away, part of me will always love you so I don't see why it should be weird. If anyone has a problem with that then they will just have to deal with that." I watch as her eyebrows furrow cutely and she thinks over my words.

"I guess you're right, I'll always love you too and It's about us, nobody else so-" She gets cut off by the last person I want to see.

"Aria." Ezra walks over briskly, having spotted me. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He eyes Santana suspiciously, trying to figure out who she is but gives up with a careless shrug a few seconds later.

"That's not going to happen Ezra, will you please leave?" Santana's eyes widen when I say his name and I'm fully aware that this isn't going to end well.

Santana's POV

I glare at the guy as he walks over to our table and hovers over us. I can't help but immediately dislike him for interrupting my precious time with Aria. Seriously, who is this dude? He's asking Aria to speak with him which I don't like, it means that he has something to hide if he doesn't want to say it in front of me.

"That's not going to happen Ezra, will you please leave?" Ezra? Wait this is Ezra. I'm going to kill him, come on dude, do something, give me another reason.

"Actually Aria, it's important, at least more important than whatever little conversation you and your friend here were having." His voice is condescending and I go to stand up but Aria places her hand on my thigh to keep me seated, clearly anticipating my actions.

"Leave Ezra, I'm not going to talk to you, no matter how important you deem it." He clearly doesn't take well to this and takes a threatening step forward and grasps her forearm in his fist, squeezing enough to make the surrounding skin turn white.

"It's important." He growls as he tries to force her up. This is the last straw for me, all I see is red. I'm up like a shot and in a matter of seconds I'm already raining blows down on his pathetic little face.

"¡Idiota! ¡No te atrevas a tocarla! Te mataré si la miras de la manera incorrecta otra vez. Dejala sola!"

I feel arms circle themselves around my waist and it brings me back to reality. I throw one final punch down on his smug face that is now covered in his blood, which is pouring from his now clearly broken nose. I get up from him and fight the arms that are around me until I hear them begin to speak to me.

"Santana! Stop fighting! It's me. It's Aria. We have to leave." I relax in her arms immediately and step back from Ezra who is now groaning and attempting to get up while onlookers stare at us in shock and the owner of the brew begins to make his way over. I give one final swift kick to his side before taking Aria's hand and pulling her towards the exit.

"This asshole assaulted my friend. I'd keep an eye on him if I was you, he's a creep. Check your cameras if you don't believe me." I mutter to the owner as we pass him.

As soon as we pass through the doorway Aria pulls me into her arms and I realise that there are tears streaming down my face. "I'm so sorry Ari, I couldn't let him hurt you." I sob and bury my face in her neck.

"It's okay, I'm fine so let's get you out of here and get you a motel room so we can clean up those hands of yours alright?" I nod into her and let her lead me with her arm around my waist. She walks me back to her house where we take my rental car and she drives, clearly knowing where to go. She makes me wait in the car while she goes and gets the room.

I take the time to look at myself in the mirror and see how much of a mess I am. I have mascara down my face and a bust lip from when the jackass caught me with his flailing limbs. I try and wipe it away but I only succeed in making it worse. For some reason I decide to just keep on trying until Aria pops up out of nowhere, pulling my hands away from my face and leading me to a room. Before I know it I'm sitting on a bed with Aria wiping my face gently with some damp cloth.

"There you go, just calm down for me Sanny, it's just us here, it's just me." She whispers to me encouragingly."

"Please don't leave me." I whimper to her, grasping at her to pull her closer.

"I'm not going anywhere but I'm going to have to clean the cuts on your knuckles and it's going to hurt." I nod my understanding and give her my hands. She chuckles as they are thrust right underneath her nose and sets a quick pace in cleaning and wrapping them. She's being thorough but quick and meticulous, which I am immensely grateful for. When she finishes she puts away the first aid kit and pulls me up to lie with her on the bed.

"You did nothing wrong Santana. Nothing." She whispers into my hair but it just makes me feel worse. I begin to pull away and shake my head frantically.

"No, I did. I lied Ari. I don't want to leave, I don't want to go." I sob as I look at her. I know that I'm not making any sense at all but I can't help it, my head's all over the place. I need to tell her why I truly came to see her.

"What do you mean San? Look at me and take deep breaths alright?" I listen to her and stare into her beautiful hazel eyes. Following each swirl of colour as they blend together. I reach out and grasp the neck of her shirt in my fist and try to slow my breathing, feeling the wave of panic subside slowly until I'm left panting with tears silently streaming.

"I'm sorry." I whimper and let myself fall into her chest, curling up for a second before pulling back enough to look her in the eyes. "I lied about why I came back." She goes to speak but I cut her off. "I came because I'm scared that I won't ever be able to again."

"What do you mean? Of course we will. Just because you're now living in LA with your friends since you've dropped out of college doesn't mean I'm suddenly more than a plane journey away, it doesn't matter about the money." I can see the panic in her eyes at the thought of us being separated again.

"It's not about the money. My visa expired and since I'm not in college and don't have a full time job they denied it being renewed. I'm being deported." I whisper the last sentence. I moved here when I was very young and can't imagine a new life in my home country of Puerto Rico.

"No."Her voice shocks me. It's angry and loud. "You can still appeal right?" I shake my head sadly.

"I already did. It got denied."

"When."

"I've got twelve weeks." I wipe my tears away but more take their place almost immediately.

"You're not leaving." She stands and begins to pace. "Like hell you are."

"There's nothing we can do now Ar."

She halts her pacing so suddenly that I think she might fall. "Wait, there is one way you haven't tried." She wipes her tears away with the back of her hand and takes out her phone and begins to type furiously. "There's a way."

"There's not, I've already tried everything, trust me." I sigh.

"Not true." She states and begins to smile. "Marry me." My eyes shoot up in shock."

"Excuse me?" I must have misheard.

"Marry me." That's what I thought she said. Sensing my shock she continues to talk. "If we get married then you'll be a legal citizen. You'll be able to stay." She kneels beside me and takes my hands in her own.

"I would never make you do that."

"I'm offering -no, scrap that- I'm begging you. Don't leave me again, marry me." I stare into her eyes and see nothing but determination.

"People aren't going to like this you know." She breaks out into a wide, teary smile.

"They don't have to but I graduate in three weeks. I got accepted in three colleges, UCLA was one of them. I won't even be offended if you don't want to kiss em at the ceremony and we get divorced like five minutes later even though I hope it lasts longer than that."

"Are you kidding? I could kiss you now Ar!" I finally allow myself to smile.

"Do you remember when you punched that kid in the face and you couldn't get in trouble again because you would have been excluded?" The question baffles me, it has come out of nowhere so I just nod dumbly. "I ran to the principle's office and said that I did it because he was bad mouthing you and was trying saying that it was you to get you kicked out. After that I promised you that I'd always have your back, I'd do anything to keep you with me. I keep my promises San, till death do us part." She rubs our noses together playfully with the last line and lays us down so we are on our sides, facing each other as we speak.

"I'm sorry that I'm dragging you into all of this but for the record, there's nobody else that I'd rather marry. I guess that our parents are finally getting their wish of us getting married though, Mami will be thrilled."

"There's no-one that I'd rather marry either. I'll never love someone as much as I loved you...As much as I still love you." So many emotions are pouring from me and there is only one thing I can do. I grasp her hair in my fist and pull her into a bruising kiss. She doesn't respond immediately out of shock but we quickly fall back into our old rhythm, I had forgotten how good it feels. Like hell I had, every kiss I've had since Aria has been compared to theirs and every one has paled in comparison. Aria is grasping her waist frantically, trying to draw her closer although their bodies are already pressed together tightly.

She pulls away quickly, gasping for air before burying her face in my neck, targeting my pulse point. My parents won't believe this. Wait. My parents. "Ari, wait. Stop." She pulls back quickly, eyes full of fear and rejection. "I need to call my parents, I need to tell them."

Then the rejection disappears and she grins again. Aria leans in and gives me one last chaste kiss on my lips before sitting up and leaving me to grab my laptop from my suitcase. To be honest, I didn't even notice that she had brought it in.

Aria's POV

I watch Santana from the bed with a goofy smile on my face. I have my girl back, I didn't even realise how much I wanted this again until now, I've been craving it.

She comes and settles next to me again and opens up her laptop. It takes her no more than two minutes to start up her laptop and have the Skype call to her parent pending. Santana has the screen showing only her to start with, ease them into this slowly.

"Hola Mija." Maribel Lopez answers, her voice stern. "You realise that you were supposed to call us last night."

"I know Mami but I ended up doing an unexpected trip and forgot to call." I watch as she explains, her eyes twinkling in the light.

"Unexpected trip to where Santanita?"

"To Rosewood, to Aria." She blushes slightly and I watch as Maribel's face also lights up at my name, it's super cute.

"How is she? And her parents? You did find her, didn't you?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself Mami?"

"What do you mean Mija?"

In response Santana tilts the laptop so that I'm also in frame so I smile and wave shyly at the familiar woman, she practically helped to raise me so my eyes relish the sight of her familiar face, which is so much easier to see from this angle.

"Hey Maribel, I missed you."

"Aria, look at you, you're so beautiful." I see tears in her eyes and watch as she calls Antonio to her.

"Antonio, come here now. It's Aria, look." She points at the screen rapidly which makes Santana and I giggle slightly. When he appears on the screen and sees me he instantly smiles at me.

"Aria, look at how you've grown!" He hollers.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Santana complains so I bump my shoulder with hers making her parents laugh.

"So does this mean that the dynamic duo is back in business or is this a flying visit Santana? You are supposed to come back to Ohio in a week before y-" Her mother catches herself, and Antonio places a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Actually Mami, Papi, there's been a change of plans. Ari had one of her amazing ideas. There's a way that I won't have to leave."

I can see the way that her words bring them hope but they are trying not to latch onto it in case it doesn't work.

"What's this marvellous idea Mija?" Antonio asks gently, clearly getting his hopes up, no parent wants to see their child leaving.

"We're getting married." I state proudly, taking Santana's hand in my own.

"Aria..." Antonio starts to speak but trails off.

"Honey, we could never ask you of that." Maribel takes over.

"This isn't about asking or offering. I've loved San for as long as I can remember and I'd be damned if I ever let her go again without doing everything in my power to keep her with me, we're getting married and maybe it'll work out, or maybe it won't. At least I'll have tried, I'll always fight for her." I take a glance over at Santana and see tears trailing down her face.

"I love you too." She pecks me on the cheek before turning back to the screen.

Both of Santana's parents are smiling at us. "There has never been anyone more worthy of my daughter's love more than you Aria. I'll look into this and find out how we go about this and we'll talk to you again tomorrow. Thank you my Mija to be." Antonio is holding back tears so he is trying to make a swift exit.

"We'll talk to you tomorrow then Mami, Papi. Love you."

"We love you girls too. Be safe." Maribel switches it off on her end.

"This is really happening San, we're doing this." I whisper to her softly as she pushes the laptop aside.

"I know. It's amazing Ari."

"Yes." I smile at her fondly "It is Sanny."


	3. Chapter 3

Santana's POV

I wake up with an uncomfortable amount of heat pressed against my front and a chunk of hair in my mouth. I spit out the hair in the least graceful way possible and attempt to roll onto my side but I'm pulled back into position by clingy hands. Great, not only have I clearly slept with some randomer but I can't even leave. I try to remove my self again but I don't even make it half an inch before her grip tightens on me. "Stop moving." A tired voice mumbles out and it makes my eyes shoot open in recognition. I'm greeted by the adorable sight of Aria curled up into me with her head resting on my chest and her hand woven around my waist.

"Mornin' Ari." I mutter sweetly as I begin to stroke her hair out of her face gently, causing her to begin to wake a little bit more. She let out a loud groan before opening her eyes and looking up at me.

"Hi." This makes me chuckle at her which triggers a chain reaction and she begins to laugh along with me.

"I forgot how snuggly you get in the morning." I pull her closer to me and kick the sheets off of my legs to counteract the increasing heat from having her closer to me.

"Don't be mean, you can be just as bad Santana Diabla Lopez." She lays a soft slap on my chest so I decide to show her exactly how mean I can be. I grasp my chest and groan excessively, making her look up at me with frightened eyes. "San? I'm so sorry, are you okay?" I call off my little game fairly quickly when she attempts to pull my shirt down so she can see the stop that she hit me.

I begin to laugh hysterically, throwing my head back, making her hit me again. "That's why you don't mess with a Lopez, Monty."

"Shit!" She sits up quickly, shocking me with the loss of temperature.

"What's wrong?" Aria is rushing around the room, rummaging through everything, clearly trying to find something. "What are you looking for?"

"My phone, I never told my parents that I'm staying here, they're probably freaking out right now." She never turns around to look at me as she speaks so I'm taking this opportunity to admire the view. In doing so I spot the one thing that she's looking for.

"You're stupid."

"Gee, thank San. What a nice thing to say to your Fiance." She looks over her shoulder as she says the word 'fiance' and I can't help but smile at her. She truly is the epitome of love and kindness.

"Fiance huh? I like the sound of that." I get up from the bed and stalk over to her, wrapping my arms around her from behind, pulling her phone from her back pocket in the process and holding it in front of her for her to take, which she does.

"You would, your fiance is super hot." She smirks but then winces as she turns her phone on to see twelve missed calls and twenty-two messages. "Well that's not good."

"No, it's not. Call your parents Ar. Tell them we'll be there in an hour." I finally let go of her and move to my suitcase, pulling out fresh clothes since we fell asleep in yesterday's after the Skype call.

"Why are we going there?" She looks over to me with the cutest pout.

"Well, in case you've forgotten, their daughter proposed to me. Now get dressed, we need to talk about us too." I throw her one of my shirts.

Aria doesn't reply, she grabs the shirt and saunters off into the bathroom, leaving me to get changed in the bedroom. I can hear her talking to her parents on the phone although it's slightly muffled so I can't really tell what she's saying. I really have to pee but I don't want to interrupt her but then again I'd rather not piss myself in the middle of a motel room. I open the bathroom door slowly, trying not to make a sound and pass Aria to get to the toilet. She's looking at me questioningly but then averts her eyes quickly when I pull down my pants and take a seat. I hadn't even noticed that she had ended her phone call until she says my name.

"Santana, you could've just asked me to leave you know." She raises an eyebrow at me as I finish peeing and pull my pants up.

"Why would I ask you to leave? It's not like we've never peed in front of each other before and you were on the phone. Plus, you could have left at any time, you chose to stand there while I have a piss." She smiles at my explanation and pulls out some of my mascara, applying it in the mirror. I have no idea when she even picked that up.

"That's mine, bitch. Get your own."

"We're getting married, what's yours is mine, what's mine is yours." She smirks and places the cap back on the mascara, tossing it at me. I fumble slightly in catching it, slipping from my position of leaning against the counter, almost falling on my ass. "Smooth, San."

I frown at her mockingly for a second before taking her by the shoulders and directing her out into the bedroom again. I take a seat on the edge of the bed and she continues to stand in front of me. "We should probably talk about us now."

"That would be a good idea, as much as we know each other and are comfortable with each other, we still spent over two years apart. We need to relearn everything." Aria looks into my eyes, not wasting anytime before getting straight into the matter at hand.

"Just because we're getting married doesn't mean we have to rush, we'll go on dates like normal couples at a normal pace. We can't let this wedding rush us or we'll crash and burn way too quickly." I'm glad that we're on the same page about us dating, I wouldn't be comfortable rushing into a relationship, that's what leads me to push people away.

"Sounds perfect, now let's go before my parents kill us. They are super stoked to see you by the way." She takes my hand carefully, avoiding my still sore knuckles and pulls me up from the bed and turns to leave but I pull her back gently.

"Ar, I just want to say...thank you. Nobody has ever been there for me like you have. I love you."

She pulls me into a hug, burying her face in my neck. "I love you too."

Aria's POV

When we arrive at my house my parents are already there waiting for us, greeting Santana with hugs and what seems like hundreds of questions about her family and her life before even letting her sit down. She can't even answer any of their questions because they are speaking so quickly.

"Hey, can you at least let her sit down?" I laugh at them, making my parents finally stop asking questions and let her take a breath. She looks over to me thankfully and makes me sit next to her, taking my hand in her own loosely.

"Hey Ella, Byron." She says shyly, which makes me smile. She has spent hours with them in the past but she's still nervous.

"How have you been Santana?" My mom inquires.

"Actually that's something that we need to talk about today." Santana clearly isn't wasting any time but my parents need to be eased into this, I need to slow this conversation down so I shoot San a look and take over from her.

"I spoke to Antonio and Maribel yesterday Mom." This seems to do the trick in distracting them. "They're both doing really well and they asked about you."

"I'm glad to hear that. We'll have to give them a call, won't we Byron?"

"Of course." Mission accomplished.

"Where are you living now Santana, still in Louisville?" My Dad has always had a talent of finding the most difficult questions.

"Actually, LA. Louisville wasn't for me. I got in on a cheer leading scholarship and I couldn't keep doing it when I wasn't being myself." Good move Santana. Be yourself, my parents number one rule. Play on that babe.

"Of course you have to follow your dreams. What made you come back to good old Rosewood then?"

"Aria, I wanted to come and see her." She answers somewhat truthfully. Okay, showtime. Let's tell them the plan. "I wanted to see her because I thought that it would be the last time I would be able to do so." She sucks in a sharp breath when she finishes.

"Why wouldn't you be able to see her again Santana? What's going on?" My Mom is worried about her, it's written all over her face.

"The renewal of my visa got denied." She's practically whispering with how quietly she is talking.

"What!" Oh boy, now my dad's angry. "Surely there's something we can do, appeal or-"

"There's not Mr Montgomery." Santana cuts him off mid-rant. "I tried everything but there is one final thing I could do. Aria already agreed but if you don't want us to then we won't." This shocked me, she surely wouldn't let herself be deported because she doesn't have their blessing.

"What is it? We'll help you with anything we can."

"I could get married and get my citizenship that way." I watch the emotions flash across their faces.

"Marry who exactly, Santana?" I can tell that my Dad already knows who but he's hoping that he's wrong.

"Me." Silence. "I'm not letting her go. Her life is in America, her family, her friends. We can do this, I'm sure of it."

"No." My dad has gone from supportive to defensive in a matter of seconds. "I thought that it was just a phase when you used to escapade around together but this- this is too far Aria. Marriage is heterosexual."

"Byron stop!" Surprisingly it's not me shouting at my dad. It's my mom.

"If our daughter wants to do this then that is what she's going to do. She's old enough to make her own decisions now and she graduates in less than a month so you can't stop her. We raised her to be a strong, independent, open-minded individual so you don't get to be mad if that's who she now is." Wow, way to go mom.

I can feel Santana gripping my hand as if it's her life line and she is completely tense against me.

"I'm having no part in this nonsense." With that my dad storms out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Mom comes and kneels on the floor in front of us. "I want you two to be sure about this. I will always support you two, Santana you're like my daughter but you can't go back on this once it's done so you can't be having any doubts, alright?"

"We're sure Mrs Montgomery, I promise, we already spoke about it and have said that even if we have to get married quickly, our relationship can still be slow and steady, we want this to last." Santana appears to have relaxed now that my dad has left, which I'm glad for, I thought that she was about to break my fingers with how tightly she was holding them.

"That's all I needed to hear." She shifts her attention until it's solely on me. "I will support you no matter who you love and marry Aria, even if you father doesn't. I love you girls."

"We love you too." I smile. "And, Since I got accepted into UCLA I'll be able to go and live with San in LA once we've gotten married. It's all working out."

"That's great honey, I'm so proud of you." She pushes herself off of the floor and sits in the armchair instead. "but have you told your parents yet?"

"We told them last night before passing out in my motel room. They're supportive of us." I can't help but watch her lips move, even now it's like looking at her for the first time.

"In that case I'm taking you two out for lunch and then we are going ring shopping."

"Ring shopping?"

"Like hell my girls are being engaged with out rings." Mom is so serious that it makes me and Santana look at each other with the biggest smiles on our faces.

Santana's POV

Ella treated us to a huge lunch and put up with us trailing around dozens of jewellers to find our rings. We decided on choosing a ring each for each other and then swapping at the same time. It took four stores to find the perfect one for Aria but it took six for her to find mine which is slightly worrying. When we went to pay Ella practically said that she will kill me before I'm allowed to pay for the ring.

We trade once we had gotten back to her house, by putting the rings on each other's fingers and then opening our eyes on three.

"Alright ladies, one...two...three."

I open my eyes to the most beautiful ring I've ever seen, it's a black diamond on a gold band, simple but perfect. It feels heavy on my finger but not uncomfortably. I can see Aria staring at her ring, It has a small cluster of diamonds on a white gold band, more intricate than my own but still relatively simple. She looks up at me with her beautiful hazel doe eyes and gives me an award winning smile. "It's perfect San."

"You're perfect." We both snap out of our love filled haze when we hear Ella clearing her throat rather loudly. "Thank you so much Ella."

"It's Mom now Santana, get used to it." She nudges my shoulder as Aria pulls me into a sentimental hug and pecking me on the lips twice in quick succession. I wrap my arm around her waist when she pulls away and look over at Ella, or should I say Mom.

"Then, thank you Mom." I try out the word and it feels oddly good, this day has been good. Any day with Aria always ends up being better than any other I've ever experienced. "And I'd like use this moment to make a promise, not only to Aria but to you - I'm going to try with everything in me to make this marriage work, I've always loved Aria and I'd never do anything to hurt her but there is times when we screw up and I know that we will so I promise to stand by you, Aria, even when things are hard and messed up, we'll get through it together, I know we will."

"I second that." Aria says after wiping a tear from under her eye. Her words make all three of us laugh.

"You girls are perfect for each other and I know how hard you'll try to make this work, don't worry about your dad and I'll tell Mike for you. I'll be calling your parents later to sort out this impromptu wedding, we don't have any time to waste but I'd suggest letting your friends know because they don't take well to surprises, you too Santana, they'll be thrilled to know that you won't have to leave." With those words of advice and a brief hug for both of us we watch her leave and decide to do the same, we might as well tell Aria's friends now, get it over with since we have nothing left to do for the rest of the day since it's only 5PM and we aren't hungry due to our large lunch.

"We're really doing this aren't we?" I turn so that I can wrap my other arm around her waist while she throws her arms around my neck.

"I think we are." She rests her head on my shoulder and I do the same, we're just standing there, just existing and nothing has ever felt better.

We spend several minutes simply embracing one another, reassuring each other that this is, in fact, real. We pull away with a gentle whisper. "I'll see if my friends are free tonight."

"Okay."

Aria's POV

"Guys, Santana and I have something that we need to tell you." My voice seems too loud in the echoing silence within Spencer's kitchen. "It's nothing bad, I promise." Santana takes my hand behind the safety of the counter where the girls can't see, giving me her courage.

"Is this one of those moments where you're going to keep us guessing for like an hour because I can't be doing with that shit today Aria, I want to order pizza but Spencer won't let me until we've finished whatever this is because otherwise it's apparently rude." Hanna makes a quoting gesture with her fingers during the last word.

"No, don't worry, this shouldn't last too long." Santana is speaking with so much confidence, I have no idea where she gets it from- I'm practically quaking in my boots.

"Well, we might as well get right into it." I take a deep breath before continuing, taking a quick glance at the beautiful Latina on my right. "We're engaged."

A simultaneous eruption of, "What!" erupts from all four of them.

"The truth is, I was going to be deported now that I'm not going to college so Aria agreed to marry me so I can get my visa." Santana brings our joined hands up to rest on the surface of the counter and each of my friends look like they want to rip us apart from each other.

"What is wrong with you Santana? I knew that you were bad news the second I saw you, you're just using Aria and she's too stupid to see it!" Alison is the first to crack. The insult hits us both hard but unexpectedly it's Spencer that defends us.

"Aria's not stupid Ali, she's not being forced into this, have you ever tried forcing a Montgomery to do anything? It's like trying to move a mountain. I don't think Santana is forcing anyone to do anything, she came to say goodbye, you could see it in the way she hugged Aria- you were there yourself. They both have love for each other and I'm going to support my friend." I can see Hanna and Emily nodding along, agreeing with everything that Spencer is saying and then EM comes and places her hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.

"If that's what being her friend will take then I can't do it, I'm sorry but I can't agree with this- any of it. She's poison, I've always known it, that's why I tried to make Aria stop being friends with her before." Alison spits at us angrily. Part of me wants to weep but the other part is furious, how dare she say those things about Santana. She may be loud and offensive at times but she's got a heart of gold underneath all that black paint she covers it up with.

I'm about to give her a piece of my mind but this appears to be the end of Santana's wits. "Alright, I tried to be nice to you even though you did try and stop me and Aria from seeing each other. I even tried to overlook the fact that you hurt my best friend but I can't anymore because you're being nothing short of an evil, controlling, manipulative, self-centred bitch! Aria asked me to marry her not the other way around and I'm so grateful that she did, I didn't just say yes because it saved my skin but because Aria and I have history- we have a connection that could never be recreated. She was my first love and I still love her so you can either shut your mouth and live to see another day or you can insult me and my fiance again and I'll cut a bitch, seriously, I keep razor blades in my hair." Looks like Auntie Snixx just came out for a second there. I keep a firm grip on Santana's hand to make sure she doesn't do anything that she might regret.

Alison simply tells us to, "Watch yourselves." And leaves with an evil glare.

Santana visibly calms as she leaves, much like she did when my father stormed out. "I'm sorry we didn't say anything when she was her but we're her for you- for both of you." Hanna makes her views clear as she takes mine and Santana's hands that aren't clasped together into her own and gives them a soft squeeze.

"I'm sorry I went off on your friend Ari." Santana mumbles, not wanting the girls to hear but judging by the soft smiles gracing their faces, I would say that they did.

"It's okay San, I think we knew from my dad's reaction that not everyone is going to support us." I cradle her face in my hands delicately and her hands find my wrists, caressing them with her fingers in small circles.

"What happened with your dad?" Emily is the first one to ask.

"Well, 75% of our parents support us but my dad is stuck in a prehistoric mindset, he gave us the 'girls shouldn't marry' girls bullshit but my mom was overjoyed, she took us out for lunch to celebrate and then she took us ring shopping." The girls give us looks of sympathy until we mentioned the rings, that's when Hanna's face lit up brighter than a Christmas tree.

"If you don't show me these rings now I will murder you both where you stand." Well that took a dark turn but we both push our left hands across the counter so that they can see them. Hanna spends at least three times as long staring at them as Spencer and Emily did but we are willing to indulge her. "They're beautiful." She gasps.

"I love them both."Spencer chimes in and moves around the counter to give me a hug, she even gives Santana a casual half hug, considering they only met yesterday I'd say that they actually like each other, which is surprising because Santana hates pretty much everyone- or at least she pretends she does.

"The wedding will be pretty quick but it doesn't matter. After I'm going to go and live with her in Cali, I got accepted into UCLA." I tell them, excited that they are on board with our spontaneous wedding.

"Oh my God! Ari, I got accepted there too!" Hanna practically screams at me. "We could all stay together because we got in and Em got a scholarship there with her swimming program and then Spencer can get into pretty much any college she wants so we can do it!"

"Han, you're super creepy." Spencer smiles.

"Hey guys?" San speaks up, wrapping and arms around my shoulders. "I was wondering if you wanted to ask us anything? We only met yesterday and I'm marrying your best friend so I'd expect you'd have a few questions." Hanna breaks out into a wicked grin.

"This calls for a bottle of your Mom's wine Spence, we're going to learn so much tonight. Tea is about to be spilled.

What follows is the most intense interrogation that I've ever experienced in my life, even Santana looked distraught at some of the questions but because of her badass reputation she insisted on answering every single one, giving me light pecks on my lips whenever she embarrassed me but talking about our previous sex life in way too much detail.

Talking about our previous sex life makes me begin to think about what it would be like to have sex with her now. Would it still feel the same? What if she's been with people since me and thinks I'm terrible? Should be wait until after we get married? An uncomfortable conversation will probably have to occur in our motel room at some point.

I enjoy hearing her talk about our relationship and what she wants in the future, I'm practically clinging onto every word that she says, everything about how I'm going to have to share her apartment with her and her friends until we can find one of our own, she says that we will start looking as soon as we get there but now before because it will 'help me bond' with her 's shocking to me how much I still love her, even more than before if that's possible.

We spend hours rattling away, Santana fitting in perfectly with my friends until they begin to doze off. Emily and I are the only one's that didn't drink so we laugh at them in their drunken states.

"Aria?" Emily begins to talk as we are covering the girls with blankets carefully as not to wake them. "Does she make you happy?"

"Yes Em, she does more than anyone ever has." I look her in the eyes as I speak, glancing down at San's sleepy face afterwards. "I'm surprised you guys like her, she has a pretty tough exterior and it puts a lot of people off but she's pretty kind and adorable on the inside."

"I think she's great for you then, I'm so happy for you."

"Any chance you can show me how happy by helping me get this drunken mess to the car?" I raise an eyebrow playfully.

"Sorry bitch but it's my bedtime, you'll figure something out though." I watch in shock as she lays down and covers herself, closing her eyes.

"That's rude." I mumbles as I try and wake a sleepy Santana. "Babe, come on. Wake up. We have to go so we can go to bed."

I hear a small mumble of, "Go away." before I sigh and lift her into my arms bridle style. I grunt under her weight and stumble out of the door, grabbing our things on the way and locking it behind us. She doesn't even stir as I buckle her into the car or when I carry her into the motel room so I drop her onto the bed and strip naked- I can't be bothered with pyjamas tonight - and slide in next to her. She recoils from my heat but I don't let her escape, I cradle her gently from behind and allow myself to fall asleep with my nose buried into her hair, breathing in her musky scent.

 **Thanks for reading, be sure to leave a comment if you liked it!**


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